Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009

Moses Lake 38, Kennewick 21

By Jeff Morrow, Herald sports editor

KENNEWICK -- Quarterback Dylan Signorelli and the Moses Lake Chiefs had planned on throwing the ball all over the lot against the Kennewick Lions on Friday night.

But when Kennewick's Dallin Brimley intercepted Signorelli's second pass of the game, Moses Lake changed its offensive game plan.

Instead, the Chiefs ran the ball, dominated the clock and wore the Lions defense down in the second half for a 38-21 CBBN Columbia Division victory at Lampson Stadium.

"We figured we were gonna make hay with the pass," said Moses Lake coach Todd Griffith, whose team is now 2-1 in the Columbia, 3-2 overall. "But it's tough to throw the ball against them. But our quarterback does run the option well."

Indeed. Although Signorelli did pass for 122 yards and two touchdowns, he also carried the ball 19 times for 118 yards.

Throw in 28 carries for 143 yards for running back Brandon Lublin, and Signorelli had the Chiefs fine-tuned for victory.

"They kind of shurt down the passing game tonight," Signorelli said. "They were bringing the linebackers outside and we just kept running."

Kennewick coach Bill Templeton, whose team fell to 2-2 Columbia, 2-3 overall, was frustrated after the game.

"(Moses Lake) made the plays when they needed to," he said. "They were just veer blocking from the shotgun tonight. We weren't tackling."

The Lions actually went into intermission holding a 13-10 lead, thanks to a 38-yard TD run by Kennewick quarterback Trent Brown, and a 55-yard TD punt return by Drew Loftus.

At halftime, Griffith didn't say anything to his team.

"It doesn't take much for this group of kids to get going," said Griffith. "I told them that I can't remember when a Kennewick-Moses Lake game hasn't been a battle."

Signorelli took things into his own hands on the opening drive of the second half, going 67 yards on four plays -- with a 38-yard run, and finishing with a 22-yard TD dash. That gave the Chiefs a 17-13 lead -- a lead they would never relinquish.

Loftus tried to get the Lions close when he caught a pass over the middle from Brown and raced to the end zone on an 80-yard scoring play.

"Trent made a good fake and threw the ball over the top," said Loftus, who got Kennewick to within 24-21 entering the final quarter.

But Lublin scored on two TD runs to complete the scoring for Moses Lake in the final quarter.

By then, the Lions were worn out. Moses Lake's offense had the football for 31 minutes and 10 seconds. Kennewick had the ball for 16:50.

Devin Homer led the Lions with 10 tackles, while Brimley had seven tackles with an interception.

Matt Franz paced the Chiefs defense with an interception and five tackles -- one for loss; while Kyle Palmer had three tackles, two for loss, and a hurry.

Moses Lake 7 3 14 14 -- 38

Kennewick 6 7 8 0 -- 21

SCORING PLAYS

K--Trent Brown 38 run (snap fumbled)

ML--Mitchell Hill 17 pass from Dylan Signorelli (Signorelli kick)

ML--FG Signorelli 20

K--Drew Loftus 55 punt return (KC Hooper kick)

ML--Signorelli 22 run (Signorelli kick)

ML--Jimmy Molina 2 pass from Signorelli (Signorelli kick)

K--Loftus 80 pass from Brown (Travis Sharp pass from Brown)

ML--Brandon Lublin 4 run (Signorelli kick)

ML--Lublin 9 run (Signorelli kick)

STATISTICS

RUSHING--ML, Lublin 28-143, Signorelli 19-118, Totals 47-261. K, Brown 11-51, Loftus 5-31, Nate Woods 2-6, KC Hooper 2-1, Jesse Gutierrez 3-minus 1, Totals 23-88.

PASSING--ML, Signorelli 12-18-1-122. K, Brown 3-11-2-110.

RECEIVING--ML, Hill 6-71, Molina 3-21, Jordan Wilks 2-15, Randy Koon 1-12. K, Loftus 1-80, Sharp 1-21, Taran Schultz 1-9.

FIRST DOWNS--ML 22, K 4. FUMBLES-LOST--ML 1-0, K 0-0. PENALTIES-YARDS--ML 6-45, K 11-81.